Building A Christmas Light Show Control Box (Presentation 2020-12-20)

About The Show

• 2,130 LED lights
• 16 channels
• Took about 1.5 months to build box and show
• Approximately 15 minute show duration

Hardware

Control Box

• Incoming power
• Relays
• Control and audio
• Output/Lighting Connections

Volts, Amps, and Watts

Video Explaination

Raspberry Pi and FM Transmitter

• 5 volt circuit, provided by the Raspberry Pi
• Used to control relays
• FM transmitter, broadcasts on signal of choosing
• low-power transmitter
• 24 channel capacity

Solid State Relays

• No moving parts
• Silent operation
• Connected to lights via outlets

Software

Xlights

• Used to create a file that controls the lights
• Build model of house to preview show

Falcon Pi Player (FPP)

• Runs on Raspberry Pi
• Reads the file created in xLights with the light data
• Plays the music
• Scheduling and show playlist
• Used to configure controller

Updates Via Twitter

• .NET Core application using C#
• Reads data from FPP and posts to Twitter
• @hpchristmas on Twitter
• Source Code

2020 Christmas Light Show

Watch on YouTube